Sun Tzu's Warrior's Rules -- for Winning Productively

One of most powerful concepts in Sun Tzu's strategy is seeing the world as made up of balancing forces of complementary opposites. When we talk about "productive competition," we are talking about the balance of two opposite skill sets, production and competition. Our world is changing as the balance between these forces shifts. 

Many sciences such as physics and chemistry depend on the idea of equilibrium. The ancient Greeks call the concept of a balancing point as stasis. Sun Tzu's strategy is similar, seeing all strategic positions existing as a balance or stasis between opposing natural forces, the most basic of which is production and competitions.

Many Balancing Forces in Sun Tzu's System

Production and competition are only two of the many balancing forces in Sun Tzu's model. Strategic positions exists in a complex environment of many such balancing forces. We make progress, not by fighting the current balance of forces, but by leveraging these forces to advance our position. These forces include the balance of subjectivity and objectivity, weaknesses and strengths, problems and opportunities, creation and destruction, conflict and cooperation, unity and focus, ground and climate, costs and benefits, decisions and actions, opponents and supporters, facts and opinions, advantages and disadvantages, and many more.

The Nature of Complementary Opposites

Complementary opposites are not simply two separate forces in opposition to one another. They are two halves of a single system, two sides of the same coin. One creates and feeds the other in an endless cycle, like breathing out and breathing in. Each half of the system is necessary and indispensable to the other. Each side not only complements the other but completes it.

Arising from the Yin Yang Philosophy of ancient China, we use the idea of complementary opposites to analyze the dynamics of all competitive systems. Situations changes as the balance between the forces of different complementary forces shifts back and force. Subjective viewpoints  Decisions necessitate actions, which in turn require new decisions. Less obviously, strength arises from weakness and weakness from strength.

The Dynamics of Balance

The value of complementary opposites is that the concept teaches us to leverage natural forces instead of fighting against them. In seeing the balance of the forces in competition, we avoid the mistake of seeing one half of the system as good and the other opposing half as bad. All systems inherently include both good and bad aspects, benefits and costs. We cannot stop destruction without also stopping creation.  We cannot preserve the status quo and still have change for the better. 

The dynamics of the competitive environment are created by the shifts back and forth, balancing these forces. Being large, for example, has certain advantages but so does being small.  As the size of an organization increases the advantages of size do not increase as fast as its disadvantages.  Growth is followed naturally by decline.  The same is true off all complementary opposites. No half can remain too dominant for long as the system naturally balances itself.

The Power of the Concept

Sun Tzu's strategy makes situations easier to understand by creating simplified models of inherently complex situations. Dozens of different complementary opposites are used in the mental models of strategy. This models simplify our understanding of the processes so we can think about them more clearly.

Good strategy is possible only by understanding the dynamics of complementary opposites. We cannot fight the forces of nature. We can only take advantage of the opportunities that the larger environment creates. Opportunity creation is only seen clearly through the perspective of the shift between complementary opposites. Over time, these shifts create trends and cycles that we can use to our advantage.